Hi friends!
I have a dilemma for a conference WDW trip I'm taking in late Feb./ early Mar. or next year. Any thoughts & advice would be much appreciated!
Problem #1: To get an AP or not. I currently have a 3-day sports ticket for the trip I am taking with my cousin and my bestie in November. I THINK I can swap it for an AP. Cost of ticket was $216. For the conference, I would probably either buy 4 after 4pm tickets ($252) or 2 2-day after 2pm tickets ($276). Total ticket cost for two trips = $468-$492. A DVC AP is currently $529. There is a somewhat reasonable possibility that we will take our nephew to Star Wars Weekend in May of 2016. Then of course, there is a good possibility that we will be coming down for the meet up at least for a few days. If we do both of those things, it's worth it to have an AP. If we end up having to scrap them for financial reasons, it will have not been beneficial from a purely cost persecutive to have the AP unless I buy at least $370 worth of merchandise or food that offers an AP discount. If we end up making all 4 trips, I will definitely save a ton of money by buying the AP.
Should I buy the AP just in case? If I wait and buy one starting SW weekend, it will be valid for longer and I'm getting a really good rate on both he sports package park tickets for November and the conference park tickets for March. BUT--we will hopefully do some sort of big traveling trip in 2017--hoping for Hawaii, Alaska, Northern Europe, or (dare I dream) Adventures By Disney. Even with an AP, I'd probably be too broke to do a Disney trip in 2017 if we do a big trip elsewhere.
Problem #2: We have 12 DVC points left for 2016. Our Use Year is March, with means that for the first two nights of the conference, I would have to borrow the difference in points in one-time-use points or rent points from David's or something. From March 1 onward, I could use our 2017 points. I have to make those 2017 points stretch through three trips if we can swing Star Wars Weekend and the Big WDWFG Meet Up. I would use approximately 56-85 points of our 200-point allotment depending on where I stay. Also, the first two nights lodging would cost me $240 or more in one-time-use points--and I don't know if I can even do that because there's a limit to how many points you can buy and I forget what it is. The conference is at Swan & Dolphin, so the only convenient options are Boardwalk and Beach Club. However, OKW is the best use of points. If I stay at OKW, I'll have to bus to DHS and walk or boat to the conference every morning. Evenings wouldn't matter because I'll be commuting "home" from a park.
Another option is to get a cash room. Currently a room at All-Star would cost me around $675 for the nights that I would need. I don't know what if any sales will be available at that time. Also if I get the AP, there may be an AP room rate available. The benefit of getting a cash room is that the room expense would be a tax write-off AND I would earn a (very small) commission off of the sale. Using my DVC points would cost me nothing out of pocket, but then I don't get to use those points at a later date and I don't think I can write off the cost of using my personal vacation club points for business use.
So as you can see, it's a complicated situation and I'm kind of at a loss how to get the best bang for my buck without breaking the bank and without decimating my DVC points. Thanks for taking the time to read and help me to think outside the box. I look forward to your suggestions!
Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. --Randy Pausch
Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.
), so I want to get that cleared up first. Originally, all of the tickets that I bought displayed under our tickets and reservations. Then a few weeks ago, my cousin Jenn's tickets suddenly disappeared and her avatar reverted back to the blue mickey silhouette. It's not FP time yet, so I wasn't particularly panicked about it. Today, I called the nice runDisney travel people and returned my park hopper ticket. They have to refund the whole order and start again. I figured that would solve the problem with Jenn's missing tickets. Nope! Her tickets were still missing and my MVMCP ticket (purchased in a separate order) disappeared. *sigh* So I called my friends on the main Disney line. They can see all of the correct tickets, but I can only see about half of them. 
So when I get a chance later this week, I suppose I'll be back on the phone again. I 
Disney, but if any other company ran their IT department the way Disney does, they'd be out of business!! 
